October is the perfect month for planting bulbs and ensuring that your garden looks spectacular come spring.
Today we take a look at getting your bulbs in the ground and which ones are the best to plant. We have a fantastic selection of bulbs for sale now including daffodils, crocus and tulips.
What to Plant in October
Bulbs
Most bulbs should go in the ground now as they need to go in between October and December. You can plant daffodils, crocus, tulips, fritillaries and grape hyacinths now and you’ll find your garden comes alive come spring.
How to plant Bulbs
Bulbs are fairly easy to plant and don’t require much specialist experience. That said you want to try and replicate their natural conditions to get the best results. Hardy bulbs like daffodils and tulips will flower almost anywhere but prefer a sunny, warm site with good drainage. Woodland bulbs ideally need similar condition so should be planted with rich leaf litter compost and grit and ideally in shady areas.
Bulbs can be planted individually but clusters of flowers tend to look much more impressive. We’d recommend you plant in groups of at least 5 so that you get a nice display.
To actually plant the bulbs dig a hole big enough for your cluster of bulbs and 2 to 3 times deeper than the length of a bulb.
Put your bulbs into the hole and make sure that the top of the bulb and shoots are facing upwards. Space them 2 bulb widths apart so that they have plenty of space to break the earth come spring.
Fill in the hole. You can refill with compost and nutrients but in most cases this isn’t actually necessary. Fill the holes in firmly but don’t compress too hard as this can damage the bulbs themselves.
Planting Veg
Despite the weather there are still plenty of vegetables that can be planted now – both for winter crops and for the spring. You can plant broad beans, peas, asparagus, onions, garlic and winter salads including lettuce and spinach. If you’re lucky enough to have a greenhouse you can plant lots of veg still as the climate won’t have dropped too much.
Onions and garlic take a long time to germinate and grow so won’t be ready until next summer. Make sure you plan your veg plots accordingly.
Broad beans and peas sown now will be ready to harvest about a month before anything that you plant in the spring. This means a nice early harvest and an extra-long season if you can grow now and in spring.
Asparagus is an incredible crop that will grow for 25years…. however, the downside is that it takes two years before you will get your first crop. Asparagus beds are well worth it in the long run and now is the perfect time to get digging a bed.
Winter salads can be grown in the greenhouse and some will survive into December depending on the weather and keep you in fresh veg longer than everything else.
Good luck with your garden this month and feel free to pop in and see our great ranges of bulbs and veg!
